Begin Again

A few years ago, an account I follow on Instagram told the tale of when Ernest Hemingway was asked to tell an entire story in six words.  His response still shakes me to my core because it is so good and so raw: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

Doesn't that just hit you in the gut?  The same Instagram account challenged others to think of a six-word story that would tell about their lives, not just a story, but a personal tale.  A lot of people just jumbled six words like "Artistic, Fun, Hopeful, Outdoorsy, Dog Mom."  If you can't tell, that's not a story, that's a Tinder bio.

My six-word story was this: "Didn't think I'd begin so often."

Yes I know some of those words are contractions, I never claimed to be Hemmingway.

So here's the thing, I'm beginning again, at least in the sense of this blog.  I started writing here about five years ago and I have now changed the name of it four times.

The first was "She's Talking to Herself."  I thought it was a clever name because I talk to myself all the time and I didn't think I was going to gain much of an audience, so it made sense.

The next was "Grace and Pieces," because I sign my emails Grace and Peace and because I love to write about faith.  But as I tried to start writing about other things, I realized they didn't fit into the title.

The third iteration was "Feminine Feminist," because dangit I wanted to show the world that I could combine my love for makeup and my love for equality.  And then when I wanted to write about birth stories or ministry, it still didn't fit.

So here it is, iteration four: Ali Hormann - More Than One Thing.

I realized that I kept trying to fit myself into a niche so that I could justify telling you about parts of my life.  I kept saying to myself that I just needed to find a great and catchy title to get the right kind of audience. but I couldn't do it.  Each time I hemmed myself into a niche I immediately burst out of it, not simply because I love nachos, but because the tailored approach isn't for me.

I am all those things: someone who talks to herself endlessly, often about faith and religion, I'm a makeup lover and a fighter for equality who still has a hard time with the baggage that comes with the term, "feminism."  I'm also a mom and a daughter, a sister, a businesswoman, a homebody who sucks at decorating, a complete addict at trying new crafty adventures, a fiction enthusiast, and about a billion other things. 

So cheer's to breaking out of boxes and not letting titles define us.  Writing is finger yoga for my anxiety and I need to be faithful to it.  I have often felt like stepping away from writing is the same as stopping exercising, it will take me time, the first few runs are gonna be painful, but they are worth it.

So here I am again, beginning once more, sore and tired and more than one thing.